A visit between old comrades
by Thatoneguywhocan'twrite
Summary: Alastor, one of Sparda's mightiest brothers in arms, has felt his life has stagnated. Yet, he has found a way out of this mundane lifestyle, and pays his friend a visit to see it through


The peasants of the old English village all stared as they watched the knight striding past them. He was undeniably a sight to behold, with long flowing black hair with slight signs of gray, a chiseled jaw that was only topped off by a glorious beard, and the scars of many battles.

This was only the tip of the iceberg. The armor he wore looked almost draconic in nature with his cape looking like folded down wings. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was a man who had served the royal family valiantly.

Oh, how Alastor had despised having to roam around in a human form. However, Sparda had insisted upon this. Granted, his human form only really changed enough to make his body look as though it were armor.

In truth, the demonic swordsman had just returned from a rather easy fight involving a small army of demons. The only part of the fight that had remotely entertained him was the Geryon knight. However, a Geryon's time controlling abilities had their limits against a warrior who moved at light speeds. To simply make the feat more impressive, he had left the beast alive, giving it to Sparda's forces to do as they saw fit.

He sighed as he continued down the cobblestone road, once he was finally out of human eyes, he turned to his true demonic form and took flight towards Sparda in Rome.

* * *

The dark knight sat at his custom made wooden round table, watching intently as his lifelong friend sipped the man made concoction, a form of tea Sparda had retrieved from India known only as 'chai'. However, Alastor showed next to no interest in the delicacy. Just like with everything else the blade master had encountered in the human realm.

Alastor was always like this, a proud warrior with a 'the strong and the weak' view of the world. From the moment he was enlisted into Sparda's rebellion, the ones he was to fight alongside were skeptical. The very idea of someone as arrogant as Alastor not attempting to take over the human realm was baffling.

However, despite the tales of Alastor that spread throughout the demon realm, Sparda knew him better. It was no secret that Alastor was one of the proudest warriors that occupied the demon realm. For good reason at that, he was skilled enough to fight Sparda to a standstill in one on one combat.

The Blade master had one difference that separated him from almost all of the demon realm. Things such as territory and influence were of no interest to Alastor. The warrior's ambitions came in the form of the tales told about him. The god-like swordsman who could challenge almost any demon lord short of Mundus or Argosax on their own territory.

"Did you hear of the church the humans have dedicated to us? The Order of the Sword. Tis'only natural I assume that your many feats will be recorded in scripture.", the Dark Knight had attempted to break the silence, merely receiving a dismissive shake of the head and a sigh in response.

"Stalling isn't becoming of you.", Alastor spoke up. This was no social visit to an old friend on his part. "You know my interest lies in your theory."

"I know.", the demon noble had let out a sigh. "I just beg of you to reconsider such a drastic-"

"Sparda.", Alastor had narrowed his eyes as he cut him off. He was probably one of the few who dared to disrespect Sparda in this manner.

The two demonic warriors sat there from the opposite ends of the coffee table. It had felt like at least two minutes before Sparda broke the silence, giving his most defiant compatriot what he had wanted to hear.

"Over the past centuries, there have been accounts of human me besting minor demons in battle. As a result, the demons soul would join the human as some kind of weapon.", Sparda paused for a brief moment, the part he had dreaded to tell the swordsman was coming up.

"In even rarer cases, the human and demon souls would bond over the battles they faced together. A power would awaken from the demonic weapon, making it stronger than it was in the original form of a devil."

It was here that Sparda saw the way that Alastor's eyes seemed to light up. The last time that Alastor had this look of determination, it was when he had been offered the opportunity to best Mundus's forces with only a handful of demons and some brave humans as the only reinforcements he'd be forced to share the battle with.

Sparda however, did not enjoy the idea in the slightest. He knew how Alastor thought. He knew why the swordsman was so dead set on this downright awful decision. He took a deep breathe, he didn't want to get too emotional in Alastor's presence.

"Alastor, I merely ask that you think this through. What of your daughter?"

Yet again, the atmosphere had changed, a slight emotional pain radiating from the lightning wielding swordsman.

"I have already consulted Nevan. She understands my plight and my decision regarding it.", Alastor's tone had changed to a slightly softer tone, as if a few bricks had been knocked out of the emotional wall he had maintained for centuries. "I understand you do as well."

"I've known you for over a thousand years. I've kept an eye these past two centuries, Alastor.", the demon lord spoke up. "Are you sure you do not wish to look for another way to escape redundancy?"

"Sparda, the last time I tasted the sweet risk of death was my battle with Phantom. It would be the last time I considered any battle a tale worth telling.", Alastor looked at the tea set on the table between them. "This? There is no glory. No demon or human would quiver at the tales of Alastor the artist or Alastor the scholar. Yet, the demons of the centuries ahead of us, when they've adapted to their new conditions, will learn to fear my name as the ones of this century have."

It was here that Sparda finally understood something. There had been no loss of meaning or purpose for his old friend. Far from it, Alastor was so dead set in what he felt his meaning was, he was merely waiting for it to appear again. He nodded as both devils got up from their chairs and pushed them in. They walked towards one another. There wasn't a hug, or even any words spoken, merely a shaking of hands. Yet, the feeling of camaraderie couldn't have been stronger.

This was the blade master Alastor, a demon whose entire life had centered around thrill and glory. A demon whose entire left had centered upon conquest and battle. Yet this was also the blade master Alastor, a demon who never cared for a statue dedicated to him, who would never sit upon a throne, but upon a throne of the legends told of him.

* * *

The swordsman would not even bother with the idea of a human being able to defeat him, instead, a ritual would be held in which Alastor became the first devil to willingly give his soul to become a Devil Arm.

Before doing this however, Alastor would develop a unique move that other demons would learn to emulate, a ritual in which if a soul was strong enough, they would heal from the attack. This would become the trial that any human who wished to wield Alastor would have to face.

Centuries would go on, as Sparda continued to protect the human realm, sealing away hell gates and finding new purposes for his former generals, a few of which would join Alastor as Devil Arms. Many human warriors would try to wield Alastor, oftentimes however, they wouldn't even be able to handle a small shock of the blades lightning, disintegrating without so much of a trace.

However, the day that Alastor's lightning was tamed by Sparda's son, when he would have glory facing Mundus's forces again, was a day that could only have been called fate.

* * *

**A/N**: So, this story is designed to stand on it's own, but shares a universe with my "It Takes A Village" fic! Like Alastor's involvement in that fic, this is made partially because I hate how Alastor is treated as 'Just another Devil Arm', despite being Dante's primary weapon for the majority of what could be considered the most important mission of his life.

Nevan being Alastor's daughter is sort of just something I thought up as a little fun thing. Basically, at some point during Mundus's war with Argosax. Alastor challenged one of Argosax's generals to a a duel to the death, took his wife, and boom, Nevan.

I didn't want to give Alastor some deep seated ties where he's a super important sword to Dante, but I thoroughly enjoyed the idea that he had a role somewhere in the lore of Sparda. I know his motivations are a bit 'shounen anime' here, but I feel it fits considering how many anime tropes the series already takes.

Long story short, the idea is that Alastor was there for this stuff. It felt like "Sparda's most powerful general" was a good way to make him someone who was significant to the fall of Mundus without having him be too significant to Dante.

A big part of what's wonky about this fic is obviously timelines. We don't know how long Sparda was Mundus's general, how long the war with Argosax lasted, when Sparda rebelled, when he sealed up the Temen-ni-gru, and how long any of this really was before Mundus struck back by killing Eva. So basically yeah, this fic just takes place generic 'centuries ago'.

Finally, before I go, there's someone I wanna thank, you know who you are. A big reason I don't write often is I always begin to feel childish and embarrassed, but this person has shown me through their own combination of being both creative and an amazing person that it's okay to do these childish things as long as you remember to carry your weight as an adult outside of them. You're amazing~


End file.
